Obama Names
Sutley to Environmental Post

President-elect Barack Obama announced Monday that Los Angeles deputy mayor Nancy Sutley will be a senior member of his environmental team. As reported last week, Sutley's name was leaked as LGBT groups were urging the presidential transition team to appoint out members to the cabinet.

Sutley has been named the head of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, along with Nobelist Steven Chu, who was named secretary of Energy, and Lisa Jackson, selected to head the Environmental Protection Agency. "This time has to be different," Obama said at a press conference. "This time we cannot fail."

Sutley has previously served in various roles on the federal and state level for environmental agencies. She was an adviser to former Caliofrnia governor Gray Davis, served on the state's Water Resources Control Board, and was the state Environmental Agency's deputy secretary for policy and intergovernmental relations.

"President-elect Obama's nomination of Nancy Sutley is another step toward full equality for gay Americans," Chuck Wolfe of the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund said in a statement Monday. "It sends a signal to young people that they can participate in their government at its highest levels, regardless of their sexual orientation, gender, or ethnicity. We will continue to work hard to ensure qualified, talented individuals like Nancy Sutley who are openly gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender can serve at all levels of government."

Sutley worked for Secretary of State appointee Hillary Clinton during her primary bid for the presidency. She was the campaign chair for the LGBT steering committee in California. (Advocate.com)